Our school is committed to educating children to create digital citizens who contribute to the online world in a positive and considerate way. Here are some resources and links to websites that maybe of interest to you.

Social Media

You can find some practical guidance for parents and carers whose children are using social media by clicking here.

Facebook is the most popular Social Networking site on the internet. It was launched in 2004 and has an estimated 1.94 billion users. You can find more information about how to protect yourself online, how to report issues and how to deactivate your account here.

Instagram is a photograph and video sharing application and is particularly popular with children and teenagers. For further guidance of how you can stay safe when using Instagram, how to report any issues or how to deactivate your account click here.

Musical.ly allows users to create, share and discover new videos. It allows users to create short videos of themselves dancing, performing or lip-syncing to music and to share them online via their app. As with other social media sites users can set their profiles to private or public. You can access more information about musical.ly by clicking here.

Snapchat is a messenger app that allows you to send photos, videos, text and drawings. The unique feature of Snapchat is that the message only stays on the recipient’s phone for a matter of seconds. Further guidance on where to find privacy settings, report abuse and deactivate your account can be found here.

Whatsapp Whatsapp is a free messenger app that enables users to send messages, images, video and audio using the internet and is popular amongst children. Further information on how to restrict access to whatsapp can be found here.

Online Gaming

Online gaming has changed the gaming world for our children, they can now play against other gamers at any time. This world can be scary for parents who don’t necessarily access these games themselves. Practical advice for parents can be found here.

It is worth noting that games are subject to similar age ratings as films are. The system for rating games is called the PEGI rating, we would encourage you to familiarise yourself with these ratings which can be found here.

The article below raises quite worrying issues for parents whose children play the game Fortnite. If you spend any time talking to children about the games they game online Fortnite will get mentioned a lot! I know year 2 children who play this game but years 4-6 boys in particular love it. With the NSPCC suggesting that “25% of children had been contacted online by strangers” through the online chat this is an article you need to read and share.

There may be occasions where you need to report incidents that happen while online, this could be due to inappropriate language being used on a gaming platform, online bullying or another form of abuse. If you need to make a report to CEOP, this can be done here:

If you need to report something to a social networking site or a gaming provider you can find contact details of most of the popular social media and gaming providers by clicking here.

Want to speak to an expert?

Childline and O2 have teamed up to offer a free helpline for parents for any queries you may have regarding online activity, this could just be simple queries about online gaming or parental controls. The free phone number is 0808 800 5002.

Who can I talk to?

If you feel upset about anything you have seen on the computer or if someone has said something which makes you feel bad or funny inside – you need to tell your mum, dad or whoever looks after you at home.

If you want to talk to someone else you can call ‘Childline’, which is a place where people who are nice can help you. They won’t tell anyone that you have called and it’s free. You can phone them on: 0800 1111.

You can also talk to your teachers if anything is upsetting you and they will help you.

The most important thing is to remember is to tell a grown up you like and trust if you are unhappy or scared about anything.